I agree that if he was looking for a pop hit, he missed the mark with Guitar. It's way corny and the whole atmosphere of it is, coincidentally enough, an old rocker trying to be hip. Does anyone really believe Prince is "gettin' dirty in the club again" anymore? I've already voiced my opinion on his, er, voice in this song too.

Basically, Black Sweat could have been huge but for some reason there wasn't enough promo surrounding it. Black Sweat was the Perfect combo of old and new school Prince and the video is watchable and his vocals were listenable. The overall atmosphere isn't embarrassing like Guitar.

As for Planet Earth - who knows? It might have some hits on it. Some artists biggest hits have been the 2nd or 3rd single.

He's 49 years old. That and "hits" usually don't mix.


MJ hasn't had a bona fide hit in over a decade. Madonna barely scraped into the top 10 with the lead single from her last album and that man-hours put into getting it to #7, by her, the label, and her fans, were many.


I guess there's always Cher and Tina to point to. But even they're only good for one every 10 or 15 years anymore.

In April 2004, Prince released Musicology through a unique one-album agreement with Columbia Records. This deal, which meant that Columbia were obliged to distribute and promote the album, was constructed in such a way that ensured Prince himself still garnered the majority of the royalties (as he had been accustomed to through his own independent music service). The album, which rose to the top 5 in the album charts of several countries (including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia), featured some of the artist's most economical and commercially appealing music in years. That same year, Pollstar named Prince the top concert draw among musicians in America. Grossing an estimated $87.4 million, Prince's Musicology tour was the most profitable tour in the industry during 2004. The artist played an impressive run of 96 concerts, the average ticket price for each being $61. [12] Further highlighting the success of the album, Prince's Musicology went on to receive two Grammy wins, for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Call My Name" and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for the title track. It was also nominated for Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Cinnamon Girl". [13] The album became the artist's most commercially lucrative since Diamonds and Pearls, partly due to a radical scheme devised on his part which enabled copies of the album presented to those who purchased tickets on the Musicology tour to be included in the album's overall sales as compiled by Billboard. In December 2004, Prince was chosen by Rolling Stone magazine's readers as the best male performer and most welcome comeback. During that same month, Prince was named number five on the Top Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years chart. In February 2005, Rolling Stone magazine published the list of top money makers of 2004; Prince was on top with estimated net earnings of $56.5 million In March 2005, Prince won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album(Musicology) and a Vanguard Award. In April 2005, Prince played guitar (along with En Vogue singing backing vocals) on Stevie Wonder's first new single in six years, "So What The Fuss". The single debuted at number thirteen on the Billboard Adult R&B chart.[17]

3121 was leaked to the internet on March 6, 2006. Prince achieved his first career number-one debut on the Billboard 200 (in the issue dated April 8, 2006) with 3121. The set sold 183,000 copies in the United States in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It also debuted at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums tally. [22]3121 also took over the No. 1 spot on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums chart the following week, giving the legendary artist his highest charting international album of the decade.

Question: When did Prince stop having his songs?

Answer: Shortly after he left Warner Bros. Coincidence?

Question: When did a song being a "hit" signify that it was good.

Answer: Never.

Listen to DMSR or Housequake--neither a "hit" song as far as radio or charts were concerned.

Now. Listen to this week's #1 song on the charts. Which do you like better?[Edited 7/17/07 20:02pm]